A nurse must assess several new patients at a community mental health center. Conclusions concerning current functioning should be made on the basis of:

A) the degree of conformity of the individual to society's norms.
B) the degree to which an individual is logical and rational.
C) a continuum from mentally healthy to unhealthy.
D) the rate of intellectual and emotional growth.

Because mental health and mental illness are relative concepts, assessment of functioning is made by using a continuum. Mental health is not based on conformity; some mentally healthy individuals do not conform to society's norms. Most individuals occasionally display illogical or irrational thinking. The rate of intellectual and emotional growth is not the most useful criterion to assess mental health or mental illness.